michael nentwig | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mehmas Filly Flies Home in Sweet Life

The Phil D'Amato barn continued its hot streak with European imports in turf sprints as Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) uncorked a powerful rally to take Sunday's GIII Sweet Life S. at Santa Anita. Fourth in her best of three turf tries for Mick Halford in her native country, the bay broke through over seven furlongs of all-weather at Dundalk Nov. 11 before being acquired privately. She was let go at 8-1 in a full and competitive field despite her trainer's excellent numbers with European acquisitions, including four wins from his last four starts in the category. Finding a foothold at the fence and off the pace as Five Pics Please (Cinco Charlie) sped clear, Going Global made her move into a :44.16 half. She still had work to do as the frontrunner threatened to complete her theft, but Flavien Prat got her out in the clear with a sixteenth to race and she zoomed home to get up in the shadow of the wire. Nimbostratus (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) filled out the trifecta for some of the same owners as the winner.

Sunday, Santa Anita Park
SWEET LIFE S.-GIII, $103,500, Santa Anita, 2-14, 3yo, f, 6fT, 1:07.68, fm.
1–GOING GLOBAL (IRE), 122, f, 3, by Mehmas (Ire)
                1st Dam: Wrood, by Invasor (Arg)
                2nd Dam: Ras Shaikh, by Sheikh Albadou (GB)
                3rd Dam: Aneesati (GB), by Kris (GB)
1ST BLACK- TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. (€15,500
Ylg '19 GOFSPT). O-CYBT, Saul Gevertz, Michael Nentwig & Ray
Pagano; B-N. Hartery (IRE); T-Philip D'Amato; J-Flavien Prat.
$60,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-0-0, $68,792. Werk Nick Rating:
   D+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Five Pics Please, 122, f, 3, Cinco Charlie–No Pictures Please,
by Congrats. O-Desert Sun Stables; B-Larry L. Caudill DVM (KY);
T-John W. Sadler. $20,000.
3–Nimbostratus (Fr), 122, f, 3, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Bahama
Spirit (Ire), by Invincible Spirit (Ire). (£65,000 Ylg '19 GOFFPR).
O-Altamira Racing Stable, CYBT, Marc Lantzman & Michael
Nentwig; B-Laundry Cottage Stud (FR); T-Peter Miller. $12,000.
Margins: HF, 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 8.90, 9.70, 6.40.
Also Ran: Majestic Steps (Ire), Squared Shady, I'm So Anna, Plum Sexy, Freedom Flyer, Royal Address (Ire), Magical Thought, Go Greta (GB), Pizzazz. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

“I watched her last race and you could see she could run,” Prat offered. “Phil talked to me this morning and said they really like her. She's a little tough, likes to do things her way, but she was very professional.”

“She trained very well,” said D'Amato, who won last week's Baffle S. for the boys with Earls Rock (Ire) (Fascinating Rock {Ire}) and the Clocker's Corner S. Jan. 24 with Gregorian Chant (GB) (Gregorian {Ire}) for another partnership that includes Michael Nentwig. “We were trying to point for an allowance race for the last couple weeks and it didn't come. It was just one of those things. She trained well enough to where I thought she merited a chance in here. So, either run or wait a while until the allowance goes. Luckily, we were able to get Flavien here and a beautiful trip. I think the sky is the limit for this filly.”

D'Amato added that, with Prat telling him that she should stretch out, his team would look at upcoming two-turn stakes for Going Global.

Nentwig was on hand to celebrate the win, and said: “Any time you step out and you pay a decent amount of money for a horse from Europe that you've only seen run on tape, you kind of put yourself out there and I have to kind of convince the partners that it's the right thing to do. Phil was very confident in the filly over there. I want to thank Niall [Dalton]. Without him, we wouldn't have the filly. I'm thrilled for everyone…it's a great win for the team.”

Pedigree Notes:
Tally-Ho Stud's Mehmas dominated among last year's crop of European freshman (Click for more), and is now responsible for six stakes winners (three group or graded), including G1 Newmarket Middle Park S. hero Supremacy (Ire) and Quattroelle (Ire), winner of this venue's one-mile Blue Norther S. here on New Year's Eve. Another Mehmas filly was beaten a neck in October's Surfer Girl S. here.

Going Global is the second graded winner and fourth stakes winner out of a mare by Hall of Famer Invasor (Arg), who now stands in Uruguay after limited Stateside success.

The winner's dam Wrood, also conditioned by Halford, was a two-time winner over 10 panels of Lingfield Polytrack. The half to GSW Racer Forever (Rahy) has a 2-year-old colt by Profitable (Ire) and a yearling filly by U S Navy Flag.

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Drain The Clock Overcomes Recent Colic, Dominates Swale Stakes At Gulfstream

Drain the Clock kept on ticking in Saturday's $100,000 Claiborne Farm Swale (G3) at Gulfstream Park, running his South Florida record to 4-for-4 with a dominating 6 ¼-length triumph.

The Swale, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, was featured on a 12-race program with five graded stakes, headlined by the $200,000 Holy Bull (G3).

Drain the Clock, whose only loss in five career starts came at Delta Downs when his rider was unseated after a rein broke, was particularly impressive Saturday when it was revealed that the son of Maclean's Music was treated for a case of colic less than two weeks earlier.

“He made it easy today, but 12 days ago he colicked really bad and went to the clinic. Thank God, he got there, and he was good,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “To see him win like that today – he's a good horse. We had to make the call after he breezed on Tuesday. There was no pressure to run. He worked good Tuesday and didn't give us any reason to say, 'no.'”

Owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Racing Stables LLC, Wonder Stables and Michael Nentwig, Drain the Clock was sent to post as the even-money favorite in a field of six on the strength of his 7 ½-length victory in the six-furlong Limehouse Stakes Jan. 2 at Gulfstream. The Kentucky-bred colt broke alertly from the starting gate to rate outside pacesetter Poppy's Pride, who set fractions of 22.48 and 45.27 seconds for the first half-mile. Drain the Clock moved effortless to the lead under Edgar Zayas on the turn into the stretch and continued on to score a comfortable victory.

Drain the Clock ran seven furlongs in 1:23.29 after being taken under wraps approaching the finish.

“I'm very impressed. He's just improving every race. He's such an easy horse to ride. He breaks out of the gate like a rocket and positions himself in a perfect spot, and when it's time to run he kicks on. He's a really nice horse,” Zayas said. “I think he's maturing a lot. He's running way more straight and more focused into the race. Sometimes inside the gate he was a little nervous but today he was awesome. I think he's improving; hopefully he can stretch out his speed a little bit more.”

King's Ovation and Ultimate Badger, the longest and second-longest shots on the board, finishes second and third for trainer Dale Romans.

Drain the Clock won his Sept. 12 debut in a five-furlong off-the-turf race at Gulfstream by six lengths and came right back to win a first-level optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream Park West. Favored in the Nov. 30 Jean Lafitte Stakes at Delta Downs, Drain the Clock lost his rider after a rein broke during the race, but has rebounded nicely with back-to-back scores in the Limehouse and Swale.

The $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park will be taken into consideration for Drain the Clock's next start, Joseph said.

“Everything will be under consideration. We'll talk to the owners, obviously, but there's no pressure to push that route. If everything goes good, I'm sure we'll try it,” Joseph said. “He looks like he'll get further.”

The 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth is the major prep for the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby presented by Hill 'n Dale at Xalapa.

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Gregorian Chant Sings New Tune Sprinting To Clockers’ Corner Triumph

Well beaten in a Grade 2 stakes going a mile and one half on turf Nov. 27, trainer Phil D'Amato's English-bred Gregorian Chant shortened up in distance and rallied from last to first in Sunday's $70,000 Clockers' Corner Stakes at Santa Anita, winning by 2 ¼ lengths. Ridden by the meet's leading rider Juan Hernandez, Gregorian Chant got six furlongs out of the Arcadia, Calif., track's turf chute in 1:08.42 over a course listed as firm.

Entered in his first sprint since breaking his maiden at first asking going seven furlongs on a synthetic surface in Ireland on December 7, 2018, Gregorian Chant was ridden confidently by Hernandez, despite the fact he was trying an entirely different game today.

Last, about seven lengths off the lead heading into the far turn, Gregorian Chant was into the bridle as Hernandez angled out while trying to exploit a fast early pace set by Mr Vargas and Thanks Mr. Eidson. Six-wide turning for home, Gregorian Chant gained the advantage a sixteenth of a mile from home and won going away.

“Phil told me don't change his style,” said Hernandez, who had won aboard Gregorian Chant in a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance three starts back at Del Mar on Aug. 29. “It looked like there was plenty of speed and there was. The race set up good for us. Turning for home, I had a lot of horse and he just exploded. He passed those other horses pretty easy.”

Eleventh, beaten 15 ¾ lengths in the G2 Hollywood Turf Cup Nov. 27, Gregorian Chant was off at 10-1 and paid $23.00, $8.20 and $4.60.

“I gotta give Nick Cosato (Slam Dunk Racing) a lot of credit,” said D'Amato. “He thought of this after his last race. Just remembering what a big turn of foot he had from when we bought him, we thought it was worth a try. Juan fits this horse really well. Actually his brother, Jonathan, gallops him in the morning, so it's kind of a little family affair there. Juan has a special touch there with him and gets everything out of him.”

Owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Old Bones Racing Stable, LLC and Michael Nentwig, Gregorian Chant, a 5-year-old gelding, picked up his first stakes win and improved his overall mark to 13-4-0-2. Purchased privately following his maiden win in Ireland, Gregorian Chant picked up $43,920 for the win, increasing his earnings to $165,013.

Although passed by his stablemate at the top of the lane, Strike Me Down, who was five-deep at the time, kept to his task and overhauled Thanks Mr. Eidson by a head for second, giving D'Amato a one-two finish. Off as the 2-1 favorite with Umberto Rispoli, Strike Me Down paid $4.80 and $3.00.

Ridden by Edwin Maldonado, Thanks Mr. Eidson, who tracked Mr Vargas to the quarter pole, stayed on gamely and paid $3.60 to show.

Fractions on the race were 21.76, 44.65 and 56.63.

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